Olympic Elbow Dislocation: Janos Baranyai from Hungary Injures Elbow During Snatch


Video of weightlifting mishap in Beijing Olympics 2008. A snap is heard as the elbow gives way.

Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai, 24, dislocated his right elbow during a snatch of 148kg in his third lift of the Men’s 77kg Group B division Wednesday August 13 (Day 5) at BUAA Gymnasium. No fractures reported. The weight bar also struck him in the upper back on the way down as he was overcome by extreme pain and elbow dysfunction.


Baranyai is struck by the weight bar and then lies with legs trembling and attempts to stabilize his right arm at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.


Overhead video shows external rotation and horizontal adduction
at the right shoulder immediately after the elbow failure.


Baranyai’s left elbow (the uninjured elbow) possibly shows
signs of hyperextension before the lift.

Analysis of the video shows that the unfortunate athlete possibly has elbows that structurally hyperextend — a good characteristic for swimmers, but not for weightlifters who might be at risk of severe elbow hyperextension with dislocation.

The Snatch is one of two weightlifting events — the other is the Clean and Jerk.
The first part of the Snatch is the pull, which lifts the bar from the floor platform to about chest height. The next move is the Quick Drop without pause from the first move. In championship competition, the weight is so heavy that the lifter performs a Quick Drop by quickly holding the bar in a squatting position — while at the same time raising the weight so it moves in an arc in the sagittal plane directly overhead with locked elbows. When the lifter is secure in this position, he rises from the squat position (overhead squat) and completes the lift.

More …
Official results of the Men’s 77kg from Beijing2008.cn

Keywords: Elbow injury, elbow turn, elbow dislocates, elbow dislocation, strained elbow, elbow pain, elbow mishap, Beijing